The essay Civil Disobedience, written by Henry David Thoreau has much to do with Thoreau’s own experiences than a general perception of people as a whole. Thoreau, a stellar student from Harvard believed one key idea: change begins with the individual. With this belief Thoreau in 1846 spoke out against the Mexican American War and slavery. His response resulted in the deliberate obliviousness to his taxes. In July of 1846 Thoreau was arrested for not paying his taxes and spent a night in Jail. During this time Thoreau wrote about the laws enforced by the government must be based on conscience rather than majority appeal.…
Thoreau, a Harvard philosopher, wrote in 1849 an essay explaining himself, who spent a night in jail to protest taxes that funded the Mexican-American War. Likewise, Tim Dechristopher, an environmental activist in 2008, disrupted the bid for oil drilling leases, to hinder and protest the destruction of the environment. Thoreau explains his antithesis, “If [U.S. Citizens] pay the tax from a mistaken interest in the individual taxes, to save his property, or prevent his going to jail, it is because they have not considered wisely how far they let their private feelings interfere with the public good” (Thoreau 3, 10). Hence, he states that doing unjust and illegal activities is justifiable, if it boosts public welfare. Similarly, Dechristopher’s illegal act of fraud is justified in the New York Times article, “Activist said the sale would threaten Utah’s wild lands and spoil the view from some of the state’s spectacular national parks with drilling rigs” (Associated Press 11). As many environmental activists agree, the public welfare of the people relies on the health of the environment. Seeing Dechristopher verbally support his own act of civil disobedience, and in like manner, Thoreau justifying his act and accepting it, it is deducted that they are both embodiments of civil disobedience. If civil disobedience was construed, Thoreau and…
In "Civil Disobediance", by Thoreau, Thoreau claims that there should be improvement from the government, and that people should fight for it. Thoreau uses paradox, and similes to convince his readers that they should take the initiative to speak up.…
"Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth. I sat at a table where were rich food and wine in abundance, an obsequious attendance, but sincerity and truth were not; and I went away from the inhospitable board. The hospitality was as cold as the ices." - Henry David Thoreau, Walden, or Life In The Woods…
The Apology and Civil Disobedience are two famous literatures that depict the principles or basic premises of Socrates and Henry David Thoreau, respectively. The Apology, however was written by Plato based on his depiction of Socrates’ defense speech when he was put on trial for “corrupting the youth and impiety.” Principles found in Socrates’ speech to the men of Athens (jurors) can be compared and contrasted to principles of Henry David Thoreau which can be located in his essay, Civil Disobedience.…
Henry David Thoreau was a environmental scientist, American philosopher, and a poet. Henry David Thoreau’s work has been seen having foreshadowed central insights of later philosophical movements like pragmatism and existentialism. He was a leading figure in the Transcendentalist movement. Thoreau is on of the most Transcendentalists today because of his ecological consciousness, independence, commitment to abolitionism, his thought of peaceful resistance. His poem style and habit of close observation are still…
“Civil Disobedience” by Henry Thoreau warns its readers that we are at the mercy of our government and have no power as a minority that conforms to the majority, which represses our desire to resist the wrongs we believe in without the support of the masses. The place for an honorable, just man is within prison, which he explains through his personal experience. In part 1, Thoreau exposes how the government is without a conscience, susceptible to corruption for their own advantage, and are served not by men but by “machines” (5). We are left “to the mercy of chance” under the power of the majority. Part 2 explains that Thoreau didn’t believe in the voting system so would not pay poll tax, and was sent to jail only to find that he felt more…
Thoreau begins his essay by arguing that the government intervenes too much and it would be better if they were not involved at all. He believes men are too absent minded and do whatever the government says without thinking about their morals. Those who listen and follow the government are not wise and do not trust their conscience.…
I think that Thoreau makes some good points about civil disobedience in his writing. And I think that if more countries would go by these points, then a lot of the world’s most major and disturbing problems would be solved. Here are his main points:…
In Civil Disobedience, Thoreau expresses his strong disapproval of the American government. He even makes the following statement: "the best government is the one that governs the least." This quote shows us that Thoreau really does have a strong dislike for the government and that he will rebel against it. Thoreau does in fact rebel against the government by not paying his taxes. This causes him to suffer one night in jail. In his isolation, he is able to think, and concludes that he would rather be in jail than out in the real world.…
Civil disobedience is using nonviolent protest to boycott government in an attempt to influence the legislation to change the policy. Henry David Thoreau created a writing called "Civil Disobedience", talking about its meaning and how he had experienced civil disobedience. He had been sent to jail for not paying a poll-tax for six years (Thoreau par. 7). When he was released, he paid the tax; obeying the law, but had still thought that government is biased for making him pay it (McElroy par. 2). Wendy McElroy stated "He listened to the inner voice of his conscience, a voice all men possess but few men follow (McElroy par. 5). Thoreau listened to his belief and did not pay the tax because he did not believe it was something that he should have to do. Overall, Thoreau was a simple man who relied on nonviolent nature and his own beliefs to disobey the government and its laws. Thoreau would have recognized the Singing Revolution in Europe and the Kent State University protestors as significant acts of civil disobedience considering…
Martin Luther King, Jr’s message in “A Letter From Birmingham Jail” and Henry David Thoreau’s in “Civil Disobedience” are similar with minor differences. Both men agree it is a citizen’s duty to disobey an unjust law. King and Thoreau equally manifested their ability to protest by taking a peaceful approach, also accepting the repercussions that followed. King and Thoreau are prime examples on whether one is bound to always obey the law is increasingly important during periods of grossly immoral legislation and unjust institutions. King and Thoreau believe it is a citizen’s duty to navigate through legislature with their moral compass, however Thoreau does not believe…
In order to understand Thoreau’s claim, we must first understand what civil disobedience is. Many people assume that the “civil” part of civil disobedience means that the disobedience is “courteous and polite.” This assumption isn’t necessarily true, however, because, in this case, “civil” retains its original meaning: “of or relating to the state.” (The “civil” in civil rights means the same thing.) Therefore, civil disobedience literally means “the act of…
The purpose of both Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” and Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is to talk about the injustice law in the society. Thoreau explains how the government is run by the majority “because they are physically the strongest” (941). Thoreau believes a society “in which the majority rule in all cases cannot be based on justice” (941). Thoreau suggests to the audience that it is necessary to “resist” the injustice “for the most part” (942). Similarly, King states that “one has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws,” and that “conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws” (265). Through non-violence protest, both Thoreau and King are encouraging their audience to take the duty of civil…
The great author Henry David Thoreau once wrote, "Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after." Thoreau's quote is trying to express that in life we sometimes try so hard to accomplish things and gain status that we tend to forget what we are really after is happiness. People often believe that certain things will bring them happiness such as money, jobs, and material possessions. However, after they acquire these things instead of feeling contentment they feel a sense of emptiness.…